URBANA, Ill. (WAND) – A farmer who prosecutors said committed bank fraud and abused the U.S. bankruptcy system is facing charges.
A grand jury recently indicted 59-year-old Cisco man James R. Williams. He’s accused of lying on a balance sheet used to get a $4.6 million loan from First Security Bank and Gifford State Bank beginning in December 2015, causing those banks to lose over $500,000.
Prosecutors said starting in October 2016, he also concealed over $500,000 in grain sales from the bankruptcy estate of his company, RJW Williams Farms Inc. According to prosecutors, he told workers at a Niantic ADM grain elevator to give checks to his son before the money went to an account he and the son held jointly.
“Abuse of the bankruptcy process undermines the public’s confidence in the bankruptcy system,” said Nancy J. Gargula, United States Trustee for Southern and Central Illinois and Indiana (Region 10). “We appreciate U.S. Attorney Milhiser’s commitment to helping preserve the integrity of the bankruptcy system in the Central District of Illinois.”
The bank fraud charge carries a possible sentence of up to 30 years behind bars and a $1 million fine if Williams is convicted, while concealment of bankruptcy assets could mean five years in prison and a fine of as high as $250,000.
On July 25, Chief U.S. District Judge Sara Darrow set a trial date of Nov. 18, 2019 for Williams. He will be back in federal court in Urbana on Sept. 19 for a pretrial conference.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Office of the Inspector General investigated the charges with the Central Illinois Bankruptcy Fraud Working Group, which a U.S. Trustee coordinates.
Williams remains held on bond Wednesday.
